Preferably take the motherboard out of the case (assuming there is no inspection hole behind the right side panel), and check whether you not only see white pins coming through the mounting holes but also some black pin (in between the "legs" of the white pins).

Preferably take the motherboard out of the case (assuming there is no inspection hole behind the right side panel), and check whether you not only see white pins coming through the mounting holes but also some black pin (in between the "legs" of the white pins).

Click to expand...

It's screws that come through the back plate?!?!?!

Cheers for all your help guys! Have checked cooler is on tight and seems to be, tightened it as much as i could and now im about 5 degrees cooler on 2.8ghz (311 x 9.0) 1.300v.

Going to see if its any more stable, and then get the h60 when it comes out, that way at least my cooler is future proof, thanks everyone.

All have SSDs with HDDs for extra storage and backup/Dell-M.2 Samsung 850 EVO PCIe

Optical Drive:

Asus/HP dvd1270 and Samsung/HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CH30N

LCD/CRT Model:

Asus 266H/Viewsonic 1080p/HP ZR24W

Case:

CM-690/CM-690 II adv/Dell 8900 series

Sound Card:

All use on board (Realtek) w/2.1 speakers

Power Supply:

PC P&C 750/PC P&C Silencer 950/CM 700 Extreme

Mouse:

Logitech

Keyboard:

Logitech

Software:

Windows 10 Pro - 64 bit/Windows 10 Pro - 64bit/Windows 10 Pro - 64bit

That Zalman is a grand cooler, I use them.
I have cnps9900led on my qx9650 and a cnps9900max on my i7-950.
But, IMO, if you are going to OC then, I would move away from air and go liquid, like others have mentioned.

I don't see, or I overlooked, what type TIM you are using. Some thermal pastes have a set-up period, so your temps may improve over time.
Also, take into consideration your ambient temps.
Make sure you have good air flow in that case and the zalman is exhausting toward a fan that is exhausting out of the case.